"I know," Linden said. "You ran his cart into mine one day at the course in New Baltimore. You were tiny, barely up to my waist. That blond hair of yours was wild and you kept denying you drove into my cart on purpose and instead claimed a woman in an evening gown ran in front of you and caused you to swerve."

Harper stilled, surprised. She had no memory of the incident, but if she had to guess she didn't think it was a woman she saw, but a ghost. She thought her grandfather was the first ghost she encountered. Perhaps she was wrong. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't remember that."

"You were very small and your grandfather bribed you with ice cream not to tell anyone what you did, if I remember correctly," Linden said. "You got Blue Moon and your mouth and tongue were stained for hours."

"It's weird that you two have met," Jared said.

"It's a small world," Linden agreed. "Well, we'll have to catch up later. I would love to hear how your father is doing, Ms. Harlow. Is he still as crazy as ever?"

"You have no idea," Harper said.

"Well, I have to make sure a murder goes off without a hitch. Will you excuse me?"

"Absolutely," Harper said, flashing him a smile before she shot Trask a sneer as he followed his boss out the door.

"That was interesting," Jared said once it was just the two of them. "You knew Josh's father."

"I didn't really know him," Harper argued. "My grandfather knew him."

"You were tight with your grandfather, right?"

Harper nodded. "I loved him."

"Well, maybe Linden will have some good stories for you later on," Jared said. "For now, we have to prepare ourselves for a fake murder. I don't know what to expect, but it has to be better than a real murder."

"And people say you're not smart," Harper teased.

NINE.

C ameron Wilkinson's death was a thing of beauty. He was stabbed through the heart with an ornate letter opener, his body left at the foot of one of the library ladders. A pool of fake blood cascaded to the floor next to his body and Jared had to swallow his laughter when he saw the horrified look on Trask's face.

Harper and Jared watched the proceedings with unveiled interest. They positioned themselves at the far side of the room so they could hear and see everything and yet not get in the way.

The murder mystery partic.i.p.ants took things seriously. They snapped photos with their cell phones, they looked in the dead man's pockets, and they scoured every inch of the library for clues.

It was lunchtime when they finally finished, and once Jared and Harper were the only ones left, Cameron Wilkinson climbed up from the ground with little pomp and circ.u.mstance and shot Harper a rueful smile. "It pays the bills."

"I think it looks fun," Harper said, grinning. "You made an excellent dead man."

"It's not my first time," the man said. "My real name is Hal Baker, by the way. I run the Michigan Mystery Troupe. Josh said you guys are here to observe how things go instead of partic.i.p.ate. What do you think so far?"

"I think it looks fun and your presentation was marvelous," Harper replied.

"It looked pretty real," Jared agreed, moving closer to Hal so he could study the man's shirt. "What did you use for blood?"

"It's a mixture of corn syrup and food coloring," Hal replied. "It's sticky and gross and I have to take a shower before lunch but it's fairly believable."

"I'll say," Harper said, glancing closer at the letter opener. "Is that a plastic prop?"

"Nope. It's the real deal," Hal said. "It's about two centuries old. We have a number of pieces we use for this type of thing. I even have an ancient revolver. It doesn't work, but it's gorgeous to look at."

Jared took the letter opener from Hal so he could study it up close. "This thing could be legitimately dangerous if someone isn't careful," he said. "Aren't you worried one of these mystery mavens is accidentally going to flip out and stab someone?"

"Not really," Hal replied. "It's never happened before. I don't know why it would happen now. It's a prop. The people who come to these things are geeks. They're not murderers."

"Ignore him," Harper said. "He's a police officer. He sees danger around every corner."

"Maybe that's because you keep finding trouble," Jared shot back.

"I don't think you're allowed to talk to me like that after what you said to Josh this morning," Harper chided. "In fact, I'm going to expect a very long ma.s.sage in the bathtub tonight if you want to get back in my good graces again."

"Oh, Heart, you had me at bath," Jared said, handing the letter opener back to Hal. "I hope you recover from your death quickly, Hal. I have to take my girl to lunch and then I think I'm going to have busy hands."

Hal chuckled. "I think you're going to have more fun than I am."

"I think you're right," Jared said.

"THE SKY IS GETTING DARK," Harper said two hours later, pointing toward the western skyline and shielding her eyes from the sun. "I think a storm is coming."

Jared followed her gaze and frowned. Instead of returning to their room after lunch Harper suggested a walk by the water. She loved the lake and wanted to wade for a little bit while they soaked up some rays and shared a few minutes alone. Jared would've preferred swimming in their tub, but he refused to be a spoilsport.

"I'll check my phone for a forecast," Jared said. "If it's going to storm, that's going to make our evening with the mystery freaks really creepy. You just know they're going to start seeing murderers behind every curtain and crouching in every shadow."

"It could be fun," Harper hedged. "Although, I was hoping to spend time on our balcony tonight. We kind of forgot about that part of the plan when we got back to our room last night."

"Yes, well ... that tub is as magical as you are," Jared said. "It has the ability to distract me in the same manner you do." Jared didn't witness Harper rolling her eyes because he was focused on his phone. "I've got some bad news for you."

"I like a storm," Harper volunteered. "It will cut into our balcony plans, but there's nothing I love more than a good thunderstorm to cuddle my way through."

"You're definitely going to get that," Jared said. "I think you might get more than that, though. According to this we're supposed to get almost two full days of storms. They're supposed to keep rolling in one after the other."

"It's the heat and humidity," Harper said. "That always happens during the summer months. It's especially bad close to the water."

"I guess that means we're going to be doing a lot of cuddling," Jared said, winking at Harper. "I think I'm up for it, but I might need some motivation." He suggestively tapped his cheek and Harper rolled up to the b.a.l.l.s of her feet and planted a kiss on him.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

"I'm getting there," Jared said, shoving his phone back in his pocket. "I think the storm is still two hours away."

"Not according to those clouds," Harper said.

"We'll watch them and see," Jared said. "We'll have plenty of time to get back to the hotel if it gets darker. For now, you can enjoy your wading."

Harper smirked as she turned back to the water. She'd been dying to ask Jared a question since his conversation with Linden earlier in the day, but now she wasn't sure if she should.

She watched as Jared sidled up beside her and dipped his toes into the water.

"That's cold," he said.

"It's refreshing."

"I think you might secretly be an Eskimo," Jared said, kicking his toes through the water. He leaned over when something caught his eye and rummaged through the sand with his hand until he came up with a gold necklace. It glinted beneath the sun and Jared studied it with impa.s.sioned eyes.

"What's that?" Harper asked.

"It's a necklace," Jared said, trying to open the hinged heart. "It's a locket."

"Don't do that," Harper said. "You might break it. You should give it to someone at the hotel and see if anyone lost it."

"That's a good idea," Jared said, shoving the locket into his pocket. "It's probably old or something, but it can't hurt to ask."

"Hmm," Harper said, returning to her previous thoughts.

"What are you thinking?" Jared asked.

Harper swiveled quickly and plastered an innocent look on her face. "I'm not thinking about anything but how nice the water feels."

"Don't lie," Jared chided. "You're bad at it and I can tell when you're thinking about something. Is it the nightmare you had last night?"

Harper scowled. "No," she said. "You need to let that go. Although ... I don't really want to encourage you, but I remembered something else about my dream."

"What's that?"

"I had red hair," Harper said. "It was a lot longer than my normal hair and it was red and wavy. Well, actually it was more of a blondish red. I think Zander would refer to it as auburn."

"Okay," Jared said. "Why is that important?"

"I don't think I was dreaming about myself," Harper explained. "I think I was dreaming about someone else."

"Who?"

Harper shrugged. "I honestly have no idea," she said. "I probably have murder on the brain because we're at a murder mystery event. The only reason I'm even telling you what I remembered is because I know you're worried I'm going to freak out because of what happened with Jim."

"I'm not worried you're going to freak out," Jared clarified. "I want you to know that I'm here if you need to talk and I don't like it when you have nightmares. There's a difference. I think all of your dreams should be full of nudity, s.e.x, and me."

"Ah, well, I'll get right on that," Harper deadpanned, trilling as she splashed through the water. "Do you know what we should do when we get home?"

"Hammock?"

Harper chuckled. "I keep telling you that hammock isn't a verb," she said. "I'm glad you enjoyed our afternoon hammocking, though. I did, too."

"I definitely want to do that again," Jared said. "It's too bad we couldn't find a way to put a hammock in that bathtub. Then we'd really have the best of both worlds. We'd be happy forever and never leave."

"I think snow would force us to leave but ... ." Harper broke off, biting her lower lip. The question she so desperately wanted to ask niggled the back of her brain again.

"Tell me what's on your mind, Harper," Jared instructed. "I can see you thinking and whatever it is you're worrying about is big enough that you practically have smoke coming out of your ears."

"That's a gross exaggeration."

"I learned it from Zander," Jared said. "Talk."

Harper sighed, resigned. "It's something you said to Linden," she admitted. "I didn't want to ask you about it in front of him and if you weren't serious and just making conversation I totally understand but I want to know if you meant what you said."

Jared was puzzled. "About what?"

"Do you really think you'll stay in Whisper Cove?"

"Oh, that," Jared said, his expression softening. "I should've realized you were thinking about that. I know I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"And?"

"I can't make you any promises, but ... I like Whisper Cove," Jared said. "There are possibilities for me to stay with the local department full-time and still be tasked with the sheriff's department on certain jobs. That holds some appeal."

"But?" Harper prodded.

"But I always fancied myself walking gritty streets and solving big crimes every day," Jared admitted. "That was my dream from when I was a little boy. Now? Well, now I have a new dream. I don't know how to handle that, though."

"What's your new dream?"

"I think you're fishing for compliments," Jared teased, wagging a finger.

"I honestly wasn't," Harper said. "I want to know what you want."

"Harper, we haven't been dating for very long yet," Jared cautioned. "I like you a lot, but we can't make a plan for that far down the road. You know that, right?"

Harper made a "well, duh" face and rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking you to commit to me forever," she said. "I'm asking if you would really consider staying in Whisper Cove. I thought you would always move on to a bigger department."

"Are you worried that means I'm going to automatically move on from you?" Jared asked.

"I ... ." Harper didn't know how to answer. "I guess I would be lying if I said it had never crossed my mind. I brought it up to Zander and he said you would probably be moving to a job that wasn't too far away so it wouldn't really matter."

"Well, Zander is right," Jared said. "Whether or not I decide to leave the Whisper Cove Police Department it will have nothing to do with our relationship. I happen to be pretty happy. I hope we're still happy when it comes time to make a decision. Neither one of us can see the future, though. We'll have to tough it out."

"Tough it out?"

"Hey, all of these baths are torture," Jared said, smiling as he reached for Harper so he could offer her a rea.s.suring hug. "Someone has to do it. I'm taking one for the team."

"You're such a hero," Harper said, laughing as Jared lifted her off the ground and swung her around.

After a few moments of cavorting, Jared lowered Harper, but he didn't let her go. "If I decide to get another job, you'll be a part of that decision," he said. "Don't worry that I'm going to change my mind on the spur of the moment and walk away from you. That's not in me."

"Because you're a good guy," Harper supplied, nodding as she pressed her lips together.